ICYMI: The Counterrevolution in the U.S. Foreign Policy, Power, Purpose, and the Burning of America’s Diplomatic Fleet

The Steady State | The State Sentinel

ICYMI: The United States is walking away from the alliance‑based, globally‑engaged foreign policy that defined the post‑WWII era. Ambassador Tom Shannon calls it a “counterrevolution” and it’s not an accident.

In the latest episode of The Steady State Sentinel, Lauren Anderson sits down with Ambassador Tom Shannon, one of the most senior diplomats of his generation, for a far‑reaching conversation about how U.S. foreign policy is being fundamentally rewritten, and what that might mean for our security, our values, and the next generation.

Shannon served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, led the State Department during the Obama‑Trump transition, and spent 35 years as a Foreign Service Officer. He is now teaching at Princeton, where he watches Gen Z wrestle with the same questions that keep national security professionals up at night.

What follows is not a partisan take but a sober, inside account of a deliberate shift away from global engagement, and a warning about what gets left behind.

The Counterrevolution Is Real, and It’s Been Building for Decades

Shannon argues that the “revolution” in U.S. foreign policy happened after World War II, when America chose alliances, global governance, and engagement over isolation. That system lasted for nearly 70 years.

But Iraq, Afghanistan, the 2008 financial crisis, and COVID eroded public faith in foreign policy elites. What we are seeing now, from trade wars to ambassadorial vacancies to the gutting of USAID – is a counterrevolution: a return to the pre‑WWII model of “America first, America alone.”

“President Trump has been one of the most effective articulators of this kind of foreign policy,” Shannon says. “But the task before the American people today is to determine whether or not this is a correct path.”

Burning the Ships On Purpose

Shannon offers a great analogy: Hernán Cortés, upon landing in Mexico, burned his ships so his men could not turn back.

He believes the current administration is doing the same thing, systematically dismantling the structures and personnel that allowed the U.S. to be a global power, so that no future administration can easily reverse course.

“It’s not happenstance. It’s purposeful…they are determined that we’re going to burn our ships, that we are going to end the structures and the personnel who filled those structures that have allowed us to be global over time.”

Empty ambassadorships, defunded exchange programs, and the departure of regional experts are not bugs but features.

Power Without Purpose Is an Empty Vessel

Shannon is no pacifist. He understands the necessity of hard power. But he warns that lethality without values is a trap.

The magic of the United States, he says, has never been just its military. It has been its soft power: the Peace Corps, the International Visitor Leadership Program, scientific exchanges, and the quiet work of showing up in other people’s communities.

“Power without purpose, power without values or principle is an empty vessel… like quicksand once you step into it, it’s very hard to get out of.”

When the U.S. pulls back from that work, it convinces other nations that we are not reliable partners, only transactional actors.

What Gen Z Understands (That Elites Don’t)

Shannon has been teaching at Princeton for seven years. His students were all born after 9/11. They do not remember the attacks. They grew up watching Iraq, Afghanistan, the financial crisis, and COVID.

When they hear establishment figures talk about American purpose, Shannon says, it sounds like the adults in a Charlie Brown cartoon: wah, wah, wah, wah.

But here is what gives him hope: they are not fearful. They want a peaceful, connected world because they know conflict will find them anyway. And they understand they will inherit the world left to them.

“This rising generation is going to play a role in shaping the world they live in…it’s going to be a world of their making. That was not true for us.”

Expertise Cannot Be Backfilled Overnight

Anderson and Shannon both warn that stripping the State Department, FBI, and intelligence community of language and regional expertise leaves the United States dangerously vulnerable.

Shannon points to the empty ambassadorial posts in the Middle East, during an active war, as “pitiful.” Anderson notes that the FBI removed its Iranian expertise squad just before the U.S. struck Iran with Israel.

Shannon states: rebuilding what has been lost will take a half‑generation, if it is possible at all.

What Can Be Done and Why You Should Be Excited

Shannon ends on a surprising note of optimism.

He tells his students that there is no place to hide in this world. You can live in a cave with a goat, and the world will still find you. So you might as well understand it and help shape it.

He urges the next generation and anyone listening to be excited, not afraid. The current debate about America’s role in the world is not settled. And that means there is room to act.

“What a wonderful opportunity. What an incredible challenge. Knowing that what you do is going to have an influence that carries through the rest of this century.”

Listen and watch the full conversation below:

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